Redirected discussion from the MaxxTorque article in 6.5 Performance

[Husker6.5]

Get your tanks sucked dry just once... Fill ups will take 2 cards and 4 swipes...

Ahh, but NOT if I'm running biodiesel and used tranny fluid! I'll just brew some biodiesel at my cousin's in L.A., hit up some shops for used ATF, and tool my way back home for $1 a gallon.

 

[Jorge6.5]

ATF is not a good idea to be burning. First off its not meant to burn and second it's only gonna ad carbon build up to the motor. Used motor oil or ashless 2 stroke oil is by far better to mix

 

[Landmine]

Im going to burn atf soon, :WTF:

Dirty injectors are easy to clean

Free fuel that is thin in cold temps is better.:thumbsup:

 

[guybb3]

Im going to burn atf soon, :WTF:

Dirty injectors are easy to clean

Free fuel that is thin in cold temps is better.:thumbsup:

If you have extra, give me a yell.

 

[sshewins]

As long as we are de-railing, think a few gallons of ATF or used oil will harm our beloved engines?

 

[WarWagon]

As long as we are de-railing, think a few gallons of ATF or used oil will harm our beloved engines?

I have several filters, and injection pump, ton of lift pumps killed dead incl a Walbro, a couple sets of 6.5 injectors, pickup and burb fuel tanks sitting as scrap metal in what was an expensive alternate fuels experiment gone wrong. I used commercially made biodiesel that likes to soak up water and grow bugs in fuel. Water, acidic fuel, and other things like soot in dirty engine oil cause rapid wear of the injection pump. Dirty injectors that stick open cause hard starting, break starters, and can melt a piston. Coolant in the used engine oil or high acid numbers just add to the demise of precision IP components.

So take a moment to think about the risk of damage that just bad EPA approved fuel can cause. (Commercial biodiesel up to B100 and #1 and #2 diesel all all over the road EPA approved.) Add other things and odds are better it can cause expensive problems requiring replacing both the ENTIRE fuel system from the tank to the injectors including the expensive IP that can't even be credited as a core and replacing the engine after the injection system puts holes in the block like the picture to the left of mine has.

Adding oil or 2stroke oil also smells bad and makes any emission tests hard to pass. Oil in the fuel can help make the manifold and turbo glow red at higher RPM as it doesn't burn as fast as diesel.

So if you are willing to risk the engine and injection system and can make the call to pull the engine or scrap the truck if fate does not smile on this...

Don't forget the Tax people who are not getting paid...

 

[littleboy]

If you don't do a few mods for alternative fuels you will have issues. But after 100,000 miles or more of burning up 100% wmo i have yet to have a problem .... direct or indirect injection.

 

[Landmine]

Can someone transfer this to the alt fuels section for more discussion?

I have irs documents, that say for personal use under 400 gallons requires no tax payment.

Massachusetts has a fuel permit, optional for personal use. Have to report fuel use monthly, not sure if you have to pay though the wording is confusing.

 

[sshewins]

I called the IRS a while back. At least for Illinois there was no mention of a limit on quantity, and if used as B100, no tax required (even commercial), but then, that was a few years ago.

 

[Slim Shady]

Talk about derail.

 

[Husker6.5]

ATF is not a good idea to be burning. First off its not meant to burn and second it's only gonna ad carbon build up to the motor. Used motor oil or ashless 2 stroke oil is by far better to mix

Momentary derail: Diesel Power about a year or so ago did an article on a guy running ATF filtered down to 2 microns running in a 7.3 IDI. He's been doing it for the past 40,000 miles running 2 gallons diesel to a full tank of ATF mix. Reports no noticeable loss of power or mpg, no mechanical issues, just some light haze off of idle when accelerating. DP recommended it with the caveat of making sure the ATF is filtered to at least 2 microns, only for lower pressure mechanical injection (3,000 psi or less) systems and not high pressure systems like common rail or HEUI, to monitor your engine system closely and of course the disclaimer that DP not responsible for somebody toasting their motor doing this based on the article.

Back to the regularly scheduled thread:

I would love to see Dennis and Co. develop a really good MPG tune for OBD-II once they have the little bugs worked out of OBD-I.

 

[WarWagon]

Not really a derail...
The ATT is able to show you different fuels. I don't recall the exact numbers I posted on here, but, the the peak boost fell off some with B99 vs. #2 on the 1993 and the MPG falls by ~10%. The MPG falls 10% with the GM3 and B99 too, however, the boost doesn't fall off.

 

[Slim Shady]

Not really a derail...
The ATT is able to show you different fuels. I don't recall the exact numbers I posted on here, but, the the peak boost fell off some with B99 vs. #2 on the 1993 and the MPG falls by ~10%. The MPG falls 10% with the GM3 and B99 too, however, the boost doesn't fall off.

That is in line with the reported fuel mileage loss from running Biodiesel. Less BTU per gallon of fuel less drive energy. Especially if you don;t have your truck tuned for the Bio diesel.

 

[Husker6.5]

That is in line with the reported fuel mileage loss from running Biodiesel. Less BTU per gallon of fuel less drive energy. Especially if you don;t have your truck tuned for the Bio diesel.

I was going to say that, but you beat me to it. It's the same thing running E10 vs. Regular Unleaded, less BTU content of the ethanol vs. gasoline results in ~ 3% less MPG (BTW, because Nebraska is the nation's #2 producer of ethanol and #3 in the world, mid grade 89 octane E10 is $0.10/gal CHEAPER that Regular 87 octane unleaded, so the decrease in power/mpg is more than offset by the price being cheaper per tank).

In my case, I'd be more than willing to take the ~10% reduction in fuel mileage (which should be offset by tuning/ATT to some extent, or possibly a net gain) by running a Biodiesel/UATF/diesel blend for having a fuel cost of ~$1.40/gal for the home blend vs. the $3.989/gal at the pump right now for diesel here in Lincoln.

 

[WarWagon]

I would like to see more than a biodiesel transfer pump - home fueling station IRS tax credit. The Commercial B99 gives the refiner the $1.00 per gal blender tax credit. However, the cost for commercially made and delivered B99 is the same or more than I can get #2 for by shopping around. My location being 7 miles out of town puts local fuel prices up 30 cents a gal making this attractive even with the reduced MPG. Granted not as attractive as home brew stuff.

However, the damage done cost a small fortune in parts and lots of my late night labor time. Let alone gallons of returned fuel that turned into something not fit for use in any engine.

I recommend folks use a biocide that dissolves in the fuel vs. falling to the bottom of the tank looking for water there. The Biofuels adsorb enough water to grow bugs directly in the fuel. Powerservice "Bio Kleen" is Dual-Phase effective in both diesel fuel and water. It is what I used to finally get a handle on the 'growing' mess. Killem is not as effective in bio.

The MPG #'s used in the article are #2 diesel numbers.

 

[Husker6.5]

The biggest advantage of brewing your own Biodiesel at home is the same as making your own microbrew beer: Small batches that you personally control the quality of and that gets consumed quickly before it has a chance to sit around and become skunky (or in the case of BioD, "buggy"). Of course, using Diesel Kleen with Bio Kleen as needed goes without saying, especially up here in Nebraska where clouding/gelling becomes a factor this time of the year until around April.